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Newguest Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary

Alleghany/aided...

Hi

The climate (of Kentucky) was congenial to his feelings (white hunter) -the country was devoid of savages while its thick tangles of green cane-abounding with deer,
elk, bears, buffaloes, panthers, wolves and wild cats, and its more open
woods with pheasant, turkey and partridge--made it the full realization
of his hopes--his longings. What more could he ask? And when he again
stood among his friends, beyond the Alleghanies, is it to be wondered at
that his excited feelings, aided by distance, should lead him to
describe it as the El Dorado of the world? Such indeed he did describe
it; and to such glowing descriptions, Kentucky was doubtless partially
indebted for her settlement so much in advance of the surrounding
territory.


--- I'm not sure I understand the bolded parts.

1. Does it have something to do with Alleghany County? In other words he was standing away from the borders of the Alleghany County?

2. "aided by distance" - I don't understand this one.

3. He described Kentucky in a nice way and this was so because Kentucky is located and surrounded by a nice territory? Again, I'm not sure what the author was trying to say here?

thanks
  

Top answer

Hi, The climate (of Kentucky) was congenial to his feelings (white hunter) -the country was devoid of savages while its thick tangles of green cane -abounding with deer, elk, bears, buffaloes, panthers, wolves and wild cats, and its more open woods with pheasant, turkey and partridge--made it the full realization of his hopes--his longings. What more could he ask? And when he again stood among his friends, beyond the Alleghanies , is it to be wondered at that his excited feelings, aided by distance , should lead him to describe it as the El Dorado of the world?

— Clive

  • Hi, The climate (of Kentucky) was congenial to his feelings (white hunter) -the country was devoid of savages while its thick tangles of green cane -abounding with deer, elk, bears, buffaloes, panthers, wolves and wild cats, and its more open woods with pheasant, turkey and partridge--made it the full realization of his hopes--his longings.
  • What more could he ask?
  • And when he again stood among his friends, beyond the Alleghanies , is it to be wondered at that his excited feelings, aided by distance , should lead him to describe it as the El Dorado of the world?
  • Such indeed he did describe it; and to such glowing descriptions, Kentucky was doubtless partially indebted for her settlement so much in advance of the surrounding territory.
  • --- I'm not sure I understand the bolded parts.
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10 Answers
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Hi,

The climate (of Kentucky) was congenial to his feelings (white hunter) -the country was devoid of savages while its thick tangles of green cane-abounding with deer,
elk, bears, buffaloes, panthers, wolves and wild cats, and its more open
woods with pheasant, turkey and partridge--made it the full realization
of his hopes--his longings. What more could he ask? A
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Clive
3. He described Kentucky in a nice way and this was so because Kentucky is located and surrounded by a nice territory? Again, I'm not sure what the author was trying to say here?

It was partly because of such glowing descriptions that Kentucky was settled so much sooner than the territory around Kentucky.


Hi Clive

I'm not
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Hi,

The climate (of Kentucky) was congenial to his feelings (white hunter) -the country was devoid of savages while its thick tangles of green cane-abounding with deer,
elk, bears, buffaloes, panthers, wolves and wild cats, and its more open
woods with pheasant, turkey and partridge--made it the full realization
of his hopes--his longings. What more could he ask? An
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Now everything is clear. Thank you for your assistance, Clive!
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Clive has already done a great job, so little for me to add, except the bit about being 'aided by distance'. The poem is about a person who has travelled to a new area, seen it as beautiful, and then returning home tries to describe it to his friends.

He probably over-exagerates a little, which all humans tend to, and some of this is because as we travel away from somewhere, we tend to r
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AdrenochromeThe 'aided by the distance' refers to the fact that both time and distance have passed by and his memories and description are refined by this.


In other words it means that his excitement, the way he described the place he saw was influenced by both time and distance which have passed away and that's why he tried to embellish everything.
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That is how I understand it.

When looking at poetry, we have to try and see things through the writers eyes. The words are not enough, we must try to feel the mood.

I think that it is great that you are reading poetry. It can be more challenging, but some of the wittiest, most moving (emotional), and insulting things ever written were written in poetry.

If you like the
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Hi Adrenochrome

I'm not sure why you're talking about poetry

The link I pasted in my last post takes you to a historical romance by Emerson Bennett.

take care and thanks for your help
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The style of writing is more akin to poetry, largely due to the romanticised fashion of writing adopted by many Georgian and Victorian writers. There is an attempt to give fluidity to the words.

I haven't had time to read the link, but the passage printed has a very poetic style to it.

Emerson Bennett was writing largely for the ladies of the day, for whom the novel was a form o
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